Safety Last (1923) earned Harold Lloyd, the
bookish, horn-rimmed glasses, straw-hat-wearing comedian and Everyman hero,
his nickname "the King of Daredevil Comedy." Lloyd's films of this period
often included timeless gags, pathos, and clever visual elements. The film
was directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, and produced by Hal Roach.
Other Lloyd films that featured the same character included Girl Shy (1924),
The Freshman (1925) - his most successful film, For Heaven's Sake
(1926), and The Kid Brother (1927) - often considered his best
film.

This successful film is most remembered for its thrilling,
hair-raising climax - a reckless, 'safety last,' humorous stunt in which
Lloyd hangs off a clock on the side of a twelve-story skyscraper above
busy Los Angeles streets. The scary sequence was deliberately shot with
most of the camera compositions including views of the perilous drop behind
him. It was all the more remarkable, because Lloyd had the use of only
one gloved hand (in 1919, a prop bomb exploded in his right hand, causing
him to lose the thumb and one finger).

The Story

The naive Boy (Harold Lloyd) travels on a train to the big
city from the small town Great Bend, promising to send for his Girl (Mildred
Davis, Lloyd's real-life wife - this was the last time he worked with her
as his leading lady in a film) after he has 'made good' with fame and fortune.
In the opening sequence, he appears behind vertical bars - presumably imprisoning
jail bars, but they are actually the train station's gate.

He becomes a low-paid, bookish-looking salesman in the De Vore Department
Store at the ladies' fabric cloth counter, making it appear to his girlfriend
through letters sent home and expensive gifts (a lavalier and chain) that
he is quickly becoming prosperous. He is so convincing that his mother persuades
the Girl to venture to the city to be with him. When she makes a surprise
visit to the store, he fakes that he is the store's manager. [The interior
store scenes were shot at Ville de Paris, an LA department store.]

Wanting to appear as a success to her, he knows that he must
make money quickly. Offered $1,000 by the store's manager if he devises
a successful publicity ('exploitation') gimmick to attract crowds of people
to the store, he hires his roommate and construction worker friend the
Pal (Bill Strother, with a real "human fly" act) to be a human fly on the
outside of the multi-story store in a thrilling stunt, as a publicity stunt
for the department store. Their plan is to split the cash after the friend
performs the stunt. Unfortunately, as things turn out, the Boy must climb
the first floor while his pal eludes and ditches a pursuing cop - the Law
(Noah Young). He is dismayed when at every level his buddy is diverted
and he cannot be replaced. On each new floor, the Boy is coaxed to go one
floor higher.

In a remarkable, daredevil set of sequences, the Boy inches his way up
and climbs to the top of the twelve-story building, one hand and foot hold
after the other, encountering absurdly new difficulties at every new floor:

pesky, flapping pigeons who feast on nuts that have fallen
on him from above

a tennis net that becomes enveloped around him

painters who thrust a protruding two by four paint platform
at him

a swinging window

an enormous clock

a rope

a vicious dog

a flagpole

a mouse which climbs up his pants leg

a photographic subject who is posing with a gun pointed at
him at the exact moment the flash explodes

a revolving weather vane

a second rope entangled around his ankle which swings him
pendulum-like from the top of the building

The most-remembered obstacle is the clock. For thrilling moments, he hangs
from the minute-hand of the large clock, dangling dangerously above the street
as the clock-face pulls off the wall - while still wearing his glasses and
straw hat. It is one of the most famous cinematic images of all time. He finally
reaches the top of the building, lands in the girl's arms on the roof, and
they go off arm in arm. Our hero has proved his worth, become a success, earned
the $1,000 prize money, and won the girl. Unbeknownst to the Boy, he tromps
through fresh tar on the roof of the building, leaving - in four steps - his
shoes and socks behind.